GOOD TIMES CARNIVAL

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Quick Overview:

This is a “Pinterest” classic DIY game. Basically you make as many small carnival games as you can and have each game serve as a mini competition. You could do boys against girls, or split up the students into teams. For this we made two sets of everything, except for some games where it wasn’t necessary. This is a great time for people in the church to bring their ladder ball game sets or corn hole boards to be used. If you know of any jugglers or magicians it really sets the mood :).

Games:

Pitching Booth:

Basically we had a piece of wood held up between two chairs, with a pyramid of life water bottles and/or Gatorade bottles filled with water, and food coloring. We also set up a tarp behind the pyramid, so the tennis balls they would throw wouldn’t go flying into the distance. Then all that was left was a line that we painted and/or taped.

The only rules were that the bottles had to actually get knocked off the wood to count. If they stayed on the platform, they would not count. Each bottle knocked down is a point for their team.

Corn Hole:

So for this we made a very “Redneck” version of a corn hole rig. Basically a propped up board, with a hole cut out in the center. Then we bought some sand bags from Walmart.

For points, if they landed the sand bags on the board itself that is one point, but if they get it in the hole that is two points.

Redneck Golf:

This is your typical Ladder Ball Golf, but we gave it a more country name. We made the rig out of PVC pipe and it has held up for years for us. Basically there are three bars, and a rope that has a golf ball on each end which is used for tossing.

The student will throw the “bollas” (official name for golf ball string thing) at the redneck golf rig. If the student can wrap the rope around the top rung, it is worth three points. If they can wrap it around the middle, they get two points, and the bottom rung is one point.

Toilet Paper Toss:

The supplies from this game came from another very old game where groups of students would make ice cream sundaes in training potties, and they now have been repurposed. We had one large toilet in the middle, surrounded by training toilets.

The student would have three rolls of toilet paper that have a piece of duct tape holding them together. They have three shots to toss it into a toilet. If they got it in the big toilet, they get one point, and if they get it in any of the smaller toilets, they get two points.

Coin Toss:

For this game we built little wooden boxes with large soup cans placed in the middle. The students would be given three washers or coins to toss.

The goal was to toss the coin into the can or box. If they got it in the box, they would get one point, but if they got it in the can, they would get two.

Stop and Throw:

This game is very similar to the corn hole set up, but instead of drilling a hole through a propped up piece of wood, we glued three 3” PVC pipes on the face of the board.

We gave the kids 3 hackie sacks and they would try to get it into one of the pipes. The top was worth three, the bottom was worth one, and the middle was worth two.

Fishin’ Hole:

The fishing hole is a very different game than the rest, in the aspect that it was a face to face competition over who could catch the first “fish”. What we had was a baby pool filled with little rubber duckies with screws in their heads (we told the kids they were born that way… no worries), and we tied a hook to a piece of fishing line. Then we tied that to an old pool cue to serve as our fishing pole.

From there it was a test of time to see who could hook the first duck, and whoever did won a point for their team.

Football Toss:

This set up is very simple. We got a tarp, and cut out two squares and a triangle in the middle. We tied it up to one of our soccer nets to hold it.

The student would have three footballs to throw through one of the openings. The middle triangle is worth two points, and the two sides are each worth one.

This is what we came up with! If you were ever to attempt this kind of event, feel free to look and see what you have lying around your garage or church to put together something amazing! Remember, this kind of an event will require A LOT of volunteers.

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From Josh Aarum

Josh is the contributor of this game and program director at Circle C Ranch, a Christian youth camp an hour south of Buffalo New York. He currently attends Moody Bible Institute, studying youth ministry. He interned at Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida and makes feature length films at Circle C every year. He spends his free time eating sponge candy and watching hotel Transylvania.